Republic of Pisa

The Republic of Pisa (Italian: Repubblica di Pisa) was an

independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa, which Republic of Pisa
existed from the 11th to the 15th century. It rose to become an Repubblica di Pisa (Italian)
economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants
c. 1000–1406
dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century, before
being surpassed and superseded by the Republic of Genoa.

The republic's participation in the Crusades secured valuable

commercial positions for Pisan traders, thereafter the city grew in
wealth and power. Pisa was a historical rival to Genoa at sea and
to Florence and Lucca on land.[1] Flag Coat of arms
The power of Pisa as a mighty maritime nation began to grow Motto: Urbis me dignum pisane
and reached its apex in the 11th century when it acquired noscite signum
traditional fame as one of the main historical Maritime Republics
of Italy.

Contents
Rise to power
Territories and administration
Decline
See also
Map of Pisa in the 11th century
References Capital Pisa
Notes
Common languages Tuscan
External links Latin
Italian
Religion Roman
Rise to power Catholicism
Government Oligarchic
During the High Middle Ages the city grew into a very important republic
commercial and naval center and controlled a significant Governanti della
Mediterranean merchant fleet and navy. It expanded its influence repubblica
through the sack of Reggio di Calabria in the south of Italy in • 1063–? Giovanni
1005. Pisa was in continuous conflict with the Saracens for Orlandi (first)
control of the Mediterranean. In alliance with Genoa, Sardinia • 1202–1312 Consiglio degli
was captured in 1016 with the defeat of the Saracen leader Anziani[a]
Mujāhid al-‘Āmirī (Latin: Mogehidus). This victory gave Pisa • 1402–1406 Gabriele Maria
supremacy in the Tyrrhenian Sea. When the Pisans subsequently Visconti (last)
ousted the Genoese from Sardinia, a new conflict and rivalry was History
born between the two maritime republics. Between 1030 and • Established c. 1000
1035 Pisa went on to successfully defeat several rival towns in • Participation in the 1189–1192
the Emirate of Sicily and conquer Carthage in North Africa. In Third Crusade
1051–1052 Admiral Jacopo Ciurini conquered Corsica, • Battle of Meloria 1284
provoking more resentment from the Genoese. In 1063, the • Annexed by the 1406
Pisans approached the Norman Roger I of Sicily, who was Republic of
Florence
conducting a campaign to conquer Sicily that would last over
three decades, with the prospect of a joint attack against Palermo. Population
Roger declined due to other commitments. With no land support, • Estimate 25,000 around
the Pisan attack against Palermo failed. the XIV
century
In 1060 Pisa engaged in its first battle against Genoa and the Currency Grosso pisano,
Pisan victory helped to consolidate its position in the aquilino
Mediterranean. Pope Gregory VII recognized in 1077 the new
Preceded by Succeeded by
"laws and customs of the sea" instituted by the Pisans, and Holy
Roman Emperor Henry IV granted them the right to name their March of Republic of
own consuls, advised by a Council of Elders. This was simply a Tuscany Florence
confirmation of the present situation, because at the time the Principality
of
marquis of Tuscany (the nominal feudal sovereign of Pisa) had Piombino
already been excluded from power. Pisa sacked the Zirid city of
Mahdia in 1088. Four years later, Pisan and Genoese ships Today part of Italy
helped Alfonso VI of Castile force El Cid out of Valencia. In France
1092 Pope Urban II awarded Pisa supremacy over Corsica and Spain
Sardinia and at the same time elevated the Diocese of Pisa to the
rank of metropolitan archdiocese.

Territories and administration

The territory subjected to the Republic of Pisa has had important variations over the centuries. During the
period of great political and economic expansion, the republic had its own consoles with commercial farms
and warehouses in many seaside cities: Gaeta, Naples, Salerno, Messina, Palermo, Trapani, Mazara del Vallo
and in Tunis.[2]

Pisan troops were among the first to conquer Jerusalem in 1099, and were led by their archbishop, Dagobert,
the future Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. With significant presences in the Levant, in the Byzantine Empire and
in the Crusader states of Palestine, particularly in Constantinople (where the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I
Comnenus granted them special mooring and trading rights), Antioch, Latakia, Tyre, Acre, Jaffa, Tripoli,
Alexandria and Cairo. In all these cities the Pisans were granted privileges and immunity from taxation, but
had to contribute to their defence in case of attack. In the 12th century the Pisan quarter in the eastern part of
Constantinople had grown to 1,000 people. The well-known "Società dei Vermigli" was established in Tyre
and was reported in the defense of the city against the attack by Saladin in 1187.[2]

For some years of that century Pisa was the most prominent merchant and military ally of the Byzantine
Empire, surpassing the Republic of Venice itself.

Its influence also extended to the major islands of the Tyrrhenian Sea:

Sardinia from 1207 to 1324.

Corsica from 1050 to 1295.
Balearic Islands from 1115 to 1184. Pisan merchants were among the initiators of the 1113–
1115 Balearic Islands expedition.[3]

After the defeat of Meloria in 1284, the territory of the Republic gradually became more continental, limiting
itself to the coast and to the immediate hinterland that from Migliarino to Piombino, with the islands of Elba,
Gorgona, Pianosa, Giglio and Giannutri and the exclaves of Castiglione della Pescaia and Porto Ercole.[4]
 The important Pisan
port, key to the entire
state economy, was
defended by some
towers on the sea and
on the land side by a
fortified system of
fortresses on the hills
behind, having Lari
as the seat of the
captaincy of the
Dagobert sailing in a ship flying upper hills, Crespina,
the cross of St George Fauglia, Castellina, The Cathedral of Pisa was built during the
Rosignano and Republic's heyday (11th and 12th centuries) and
finally Livorno with financed by the spoils and loot from the Mahdia
the plan of Porto Pisano, essential outlet to dominate the campaign of 1087
western Mediterranean, while the area that intersected the
Arno with the Valdera was defended by the castles of
Appiano, Petriolo, Montecuccoli and finally, by order of
foundation, that of Ponte di Sacco (1392).[4]

The territorial extent of the Republic of Pisa (12th

century)

Pisan watchtower The Pisa Griffin - a Relief of the seaport of Pisa on the Tower of Pisa
on Elba built by the spoil from one of
Republic as a Pisa's many
defence against campaigns against
Saracen pirates Islamic strongholds

The Flag of Pisa

(Pisan cross) flying
on the Leaning
Tower of Pisa (build
12th-14th century)
Inland, in perennial struggle with the Republic of Lucca, the Republic of Florence and Volterra, its borders
were very fluctuating having as contested castles those of Buti, Palaia, Peccioli, Montopoli (until 1349),
Lajatico, Chianni ( until 1325), Santa Maria a Monte, Pontedera and in Vecchiano. The main strongholds were
the Verruca fortress, near Calci, which served as the cornerstone of the mountain defensive system on the
Lucca border that ran from the ancient lago di Bientina to the Serchio with the castles of Caprona, Vicopisano,
Asciano and Agnano. On the Florentine road to block the access to Pisa there was the castle of Cascina, the
scene of important Battle of Cascina. Castelnuovo di Val di Cecina was long disputed by Volterra.[4]

The Maremma territory south of the port of Vada was administered in the name of the republic by the Pisan
counts of Della Gherardesca family with the castles located in numerous cities such as of Guardistallo,
Bibbona, Riparbella and Suvereto.[4]

Decline
The rivalry between Pisa and Republic of Genoa intensified in the 13th century and resulted in the naval Battle
of Meloria (1284), fought right in front of the Pisan port, which marked the beginning of the decline of the
power of the city, with the renunciation of any claim on Corsica and with the sale of part of Sardinia to Genoa
in 1299.[5]

Furthermore, from 1323, the Aragonese conquest of Sardinia began, which deprived the city of the dominion
over the giudicati of Cagliari and Gallura.[5]

Given the difficult economic and political situation of the now decadent Republic, on February 13, 1399, the
lord of Pisa Gherardo Appiani sold the city and the countryside for the sum of 200,000 gold florins to Gian
Galeazzo Visconti of the Pisan branch of the Visconti family to become lord of Piombino and obtain the
appointment as Lord of Pisa.[6]

However, the control of the Republic by the Visconti did not last long, in fact Pisa maintained its independence
and dominion over that part of the Tuscan coast and beyond until 1406, when it was occupied by the
mercenaries Angelo Tartaglia and Muzio Attendolo Sforza who ordered the annexation to the Republic of
Florence.[7]

With the Florence's domination began an unstoppable decline of the city which, in the past centuries had
spread its Romanesque architectural style, even in Sardinian churches. Suffocated the commercial and
merchant traffic, which had characterized its efficiency for centuries, some of the most important Pisan families
such as the Alliata, the Della Gherardesca, the Caetani and the Upezzinghi, to escape the Florentine
domination, emigrated to other Italian city-states, in particular to the Kingdom of Sicily.[8][9]

See also
History of Pisa
Maritime republics
Republic of Genoa
Republic of Florence

References
1. "Pisa | Italy" (https://www.britannica.com/place/Pisa-Italy). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved
2020-10-13.
2. Lodolini, Armando. Le Repubbliche Del Mare (in Italian). Biblioteca de Storia Patria. pp. 48–67.
 3. Charles Julian Bishko (1975), "The Spanish and Portuguese Reconquest, 1095–1492" (http://li
bro.uca.edu/bishko/spr1.htm), A History of the Crusades, Vol. 3: The Fourteenth and Fifteenth
Centuries, ed. Harry W. Hazard (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press), 405.
4. Benvenuti, Gino. Storia della Repubblica di Pisa. Giardini. pp. 19, 61, 62, 64–65.
5. Benvenuti, Gino. Le repubbliche marinare: Amalfi, Pisa, Genova e Venezia (in Italian). Newton
Compton; 1st edition.
6. Bueno de Mesquita, Daniel Meredith. Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan (1351-1402).
Cambridge University Press.
7. Garuti, Giovanni. Medieval knights 1100-1476. Soldiershop.
8. Memorie istoriche di piu uomini illustri Pisani (in Italian). Nabu Press. p. 202.
9. Petralia, Giuseppe. Banchieri e famiglie mercantili nel Mediterraneo aragonese: l'emigrazione
dei pisani in Sicilia nel Quattrocento (in Italian).

Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.

Notes
a. (English: Council of Elders) Was a government institution present in multiple italian city-states
in the past. It was a council formed by a small number, varying from place to place, of "elders",
considered wise, chosen from among the most powerful noble families of the city itself.

External links

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